Oh let the house of Aaron say, “His mercy is everlasting.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Let the house of Aaron now say that his loving kindness endures forever.
- KJV Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth for ever.
- BSB Let the house of Aaron say, “His loving devotion endures forever.”
- NKJV Let the house of Aaron now say, “His mercy endures forever.”
- NLT Let Aaron’s descendants, the priests, repeat: “His faithful love endures forever.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Let the priestly house of Aaron declare that God's loving kindness endures forever. It matters because all who serve God join in confessing his faithful love.
Overview
The summons widens to the priests, who lead worship and represent the people before God. Even those nearest the altar must rehearse God's mercy. This invites every order of God's people to praise, fulfilled in Christ who makes all believers a kingdom of priests.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Ps 134:1–3A Song of Ascents. Look! Praise Yahweh, all you servants of Yahweh, who stand by night in Yahweh’s house!
- 1 Pet 2:5You also, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
- Rev 5:8–10Now when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
- Rev 1:6and he made us to be a Kingdom, priests to his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
- Rev 4:7–11The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 118:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.